Insole for boots or shoes



(No Modek.)

O. P. BOSWORTH.

INSOLE FOR BOOTS 0R SHOES.

No. 332,289. Patentd Nov. 10, 1885.

(diff N PETERS. Phoioiilhogrnpher. Wasl1ing\0ll. 0.04

NITED STATES PATENT CHARLES F. BOSWORTH, OF MILFORD, CONNECTICUT.

INSOLE FOR BOOTS OR SHOES.

fiPECIPIC'ATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 330,289, dated November 10, 1885.

' Application filed August Q6, 1885. Serial No. 175,343. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES F. BOSWORTH, of Milford, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut,have invented anew Iniprovement in Insoles for Boots or Shoes; and I do herebydeclare the following, when takenin connection with the accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in-

Figure 1, the sole,showing the grooves upon the surface with the edge pierced; Figs. 2 and 3, transverse sections showing different awls or needles; Fig. 4,a face View of the sole with out the piercingthrough the edge; Fig. 5, a modification.

This invention relates to an improvementin the construction of insoles for boots or shoes, adapted to be used in stitching the soles of boots or shoes by machinery.

In the more general construction of insoles for this class of work a channel has been cut upon theunder side of the sole,near to and parallel with the edge, so as to leavea rib around the edge,through which the stitches are taken. This channel has been formed by cutting a groove, and has also been produced by an inclined under-cut toward the edge of the sole, the cut itself forming the groove through which the stitches are made. In other cases the edge has been split from the outside and the upper stitched through the split. In either case the sole is very much weakened. In case ofthe grooves, which are admittedly the better construction thus far produced, the sole dependence of the stitch forits support is upon the flange or flap around the edge of the sole. The removal of the stock in forming the channel greatly weakens the sole and rereduces the support for the stitch over what would be in the old hand-stitching directly through the sole without forming the flange or flap on the sole.

The object of my invention is to overcome these difficulties and produce an insole which may be used in the manufacture of boots or shoes by machinery,and so that when stitched the sole may have the strength and peculiar characteristics of a hand-stitched insole; and the invention consists in a sole having radial recesses cut therein, starting from the surface of the sole, deepening toward the edge, but stopping short of the edge, and so as to form a series of recesses near the edge, through which the stitch may be taken, as more fully hereinafter described. The shape of the insole correspondsto the shape of the boot or shoe to be produced, and in the usual manner, as also of the usual material.

A represents the insole, preferably chamfered, as shown. Upon that surface which is to be next the outsole, and which, for convenience, I will call the outer surface, I cut grooves a radially-that is, at right angles to the portion of the edge of the sole where the groove is cut. These grooves commence upon the surface back from the edge and deepen toward the edge,the grooves stopping distant from the edge to leave sufficient material for the stitches. These grooves are distant from each other according to thelength of the stitches to be produced.

The sole is applied to the boot or shoe in the usual manner of applying an insole. stitching is produced by passing the needle, awl, or whatever the instrument may be, successively through the grooves, out through the edge of the sole, as indicated in Fig. 2, which shows a straight needle or awl, or as in Fig. 3, which shows a curved needle or awl. The holes may be pierced from the grooves outward before the stitch commences that is, the sole itself may be pierced with holes I) through the edge of the sole in line with the grooves, as seen in Fig. 1, preparatory to the application of the sole to the shoe.

It will be understood that in weltcd work the welt is to be applied and secured by stitching; but in turned work the upper will be stitched to the sole and then the work turned, so that the reverse surface of the sole will become the wearing-surface in the shoe, in the usual manner for turned work. By this construction the irregularity in the surface, produced by channeling or grooving, is avoided, as it will be observed that the surface of the sole between the stitches is not disturbed, and it all remains in the same plane as in handstitching, and by the construction I overcome the difficulties which have heretofore existed in machine-stitched insoles or turned work.

WVhile I have termed the invention an Theinsole, the same insole will also be the out sole in turned work. I therefore wish to be understood by the term insole as including all Work to which it is applicable.

The sole itself may be produced as an article of manufacture, with or without the piercings or grooves through the edge of the sole.

I have represented the grooves as commencing back from the edge of the sole on the surface and deepening toward the edge; and this is the better construction; but they may be of equal depth throughout, as seen in Fig. 5. I therefore do not wish to be understood as limiting my invention to any specific shape of the groove, it only being essential that there shall be a groove in the surface of the sole substantially radial to its edge, terminating at a point inside the edge, and so as to leave the stock between the end of the groove and the edge in substantially its normal condition.

I claim- 1. As an article of manufacture, an insole for boots and shoes, having grooves radial to the edge formed'on one of its surfaces,the said grooves terminating near the edge,butso as to leave the stock of the sole between the end of the grooves and the extreme edge in substantially its normal condition, substantially as described.

2. As an article of manufacture, an insole for boots and shoes, having radial grooves formed on one side, starting from the surface, deepening toward the edge, but stopping short of the edge, substantially as described.

3. An insole for boots and shoes, having radial grooves formed on one side, starting from the surface, deepening toward the edge, but stopping short of the edg'e,the sole pierced from the outer end of the grooves through the edge of the sole, substantially as described.

CHARLES F. BOSWORTH. Witnesses:

OWEN T. CLARKE, JAMES T. HIGBY. 

